Petrine Regulations

Petrine Regulations

(Regulations of Peter I, reglamenty), the legislative acts that outlined the structure and functions of new institutions created under the administrative reforms of the first quarter of the 18th century.

The Petrine regulations included military legislation such as the Army Regulations (1716), the Regulations for the Land Forces (1716), and the Naval Regulations (1720); the General Regulation, which established the collegiums (1720); the Spiritual Regulation for the Synod (1721); the Regulations for the Chief Magistracy (1721); and the Admiralty Regulation (1722). The tsar, the chief administrators of the state, and representatives of the social estates (the dvorianstvo [nobility and gentry], merchants, and clergy) wrote the regulations, which adapted the norms of Western European legislation to Russian conditions.

The Petrine regulations promoted the centralization of the bureaucracy, abolished the remnants of feudal separatism, and strengthened the army and navy. At the same time, they intensified the exploitation of the serfs and the working people and increased the rights and privileges of the ruling classes.

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